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I almost feel guilty, but I am actually feeling very well, I have not had any bad pain at all, my highest number was a 3. I have been able to get all of my fluids in, my protein and my medications/supplements. I was actually wondering if the doctor had really done the surgery. 😁 At this point I'm wondering why I waited so long to do this.

Kind of yes and no. I met with my surgeon team and was told try to stay around 1000-1200 calories, 130g or less of carbs, and to be at least 80g of protein. They said they don’t know why for some people the metabolism reacts differently and changes greatly with surgery while with others the metabolic response is very minimal. They said obesity is a chronic disease that the body settles into. They said that the journey though is my own and that I shouldn’t be comparing myself to the substantial weight loss others have. I think it’s really hard to not compare sometimes though because many here get the surgery and become very healthy very fast. They are planning to meet with me again in about a month and will discuss various weight loss medicine additions such as ozempic, wegovy, metformin, topiramate, phentermine, mounjaro. It could take one or a pair of these medications together to get the metabolic rate to be where it needs to be for weight loss for me.

It was divine, yes! And I honestly didn't believe for a moment that 2 tablespoons of food would suffice, but it sure did. It was oatmeal made with protein. For lunch I served myself a four ounce serving of cottage cheese, and managed to eat 2 ounces before I was full. And dinner was broccoli and a chicken meatball pureed in broth, also a 4 ounce serving, of which I could only eat half. Everything tasted so good though. So, so, darn, good.

The staged return to eating is in place for a reason - to protect your healing tummy. There are a lot of sutures & staples holding your poor digestive system together. If you had a 12 inch wound with stitches on your arm wouldn’t you do all you could to protect it & ensure you didn’t damage or strain it or hinder your recovery? It takes about 8 weeks to be healed from the surgery. Yes, foods (liquids) can taste awful after surgery & it can continue for a while until you are more fully healed. I found the shakes disgusting but you have alternatives. Thin soups like broths (bone broth are high in protein), consumes & cream soups (tomato, pumpkin, chicken, etc.). Just strain them to ensure there aren’t any random chunks of meat, vegetables, herbs, etc. in it. Make your own yoghurt drink by blending Greek yoghurt with milk to a thin consistency & add any flavour powders you may like. Protein water is another option. All these count towards your fluid goal during the liquid stage. Just sip, sip, sip. The portion recommendation I was given (1/3 - 1/4 cup) didn’t begin until purées so liquids were just three ‘meals’ (shake, soup) a day so a cup each. I diluted them to help with the flavour & texture (for the shakes) & didn’t care if it took hours to drink them. Plans can be different about caffeine but if yours is no caffeine try decaffeinated or green or herbal teas. I found warm drinks much easier to tolerate & soothing to drink.

You do have legitimate questions and ones that any doctor or their team should be comfortable answering as they are important to you and your peace of mind in consideration of another procedure. I know via your prior post you said you aren’t on the socials quite as much, but if you listen to podcasts I’d recommend BariNation. There is one of the hosts who had been sleeved and always felt like they could consume more than they should, and did not want a bypass (which he was originally told he would need to be sleeved first, lose enough to be then safe enough to have a bypass). He thought a bypass would be the only option and for whatever reason was not keen on it. He was then introduced to a doctor who said that’s not his only option and told him about the SADI. He eventually got his evaluation and found out that though the sleeve is said to remove 80% of your stomach, his was only 50-60% so he wasn’t wrong that his eating capacity was more than he thought. He recently did his revision surgery and part of it was resleeving on top of the reroute of the intestinal tract. So yes part of the procedure should be to reevaluate your stomach size to determine whether it should be revised.

ok, I goofed. Last night, I was feeling very capable since Ive done so well since surgery. Well, I was too cocky apparently, bc I shouldnt have done this at 3 weeks, 2 days. I ate almost 4oz of prime rib last night. I chewed it very well. It seemed ok until it wasn’t. I was in pain and for the first time being sleeved I vomited. This a.m I wasn't the least bit hungry , felt fine otherwise, so I just had water till about noon. I could only get 2 oz of my protein oats down. Then about 2 hours later, Im struggling getting some chili down. Do you think that steak is still hanging out in my stomach? I’d appreciate your feedback.

Hope everything went smoothly for you. How are you feeling? I had the sleeve 3/18! I'm working on getting 2 protein shakes& water in to stay hydrated. Not a lot of calories so low energy at the moment.

You mistook my statement, I wasn't diminishing your experience, it pointed out the inner workings of the human brain and what we choose to highlight in situations. That you chose to see one aspect, the effect over the root cause. If there's one thing I've learned through all this is a sense of humor is: 1. Necessary to help persevere and maintain our resolve in this journey. 2. Subjective and can be taken wrong when not intentioned - in the future I will keep this in mind, but it is also how others do their sharing and should be understood and recognized as well. I'm sorry you were offended over my attempt to bring humor to something we ALL struggle with, but as you deal with your neurological divergences by sharing, I too have my neurological processes of managing difficult times - seeing myself in your post as I did relate it to my struggle since I've been there - humor. If we can't laugh at our difficulties then we are left with so few options and get bogged down in the minutia we call life. I accept your way of dealing with your neurological divergences by sharing and I applaud your recognizing it and managing it! Just keep in mind we all deal with things differently with our own way of sharing. Sometimes, other people in how they share may not be how you perceive as helpful, or meaningful, but I too was sharing in my way. I was trying to offer a new perspective as well as offer a possible way of handling it. I cared enough about your sharing and your struggle to comment and attempt to show there is humor another side of it. My post to your comment wasn't intended to belittle your experience, but to possibly expose it for more than the one perceived aspect, how you saw it. It is why people share, to hopefully bring relief and see other sides to the problem. Thank goodness we all handle things differently or this world would be boring. Again, I'm sorry you took mine as questioning or laughing at your neurological struggle it is how I handle my sharing (just look at my past posts) its how I choose to see life and hope it helps others to look away from always seeing the rough side of things and occasionally brings a smile in difficult times. I try to not take life as a constant struggle even though it has been for me, believe me more than most people should have to deal with in a lifetime so I laugh opposed to cry. I truly wish you well and hope your struggles on your journey can at times make you smile knowing you made it through not only in one piece but you made it through as a stronger more capable person. You will make it out to the other side.

Okay this is long and boring at parts but here it goes. I am 3 years post sleeve and I have gained all my weight back . First of all I was on the smaller side to have the sleeve but I do still have all the same struggles and if I had waited until I was older it was just a matter of time until I was a higher bmi having the surgery. The fact that I have lost and then gained it all plus some within less than years is probably proof of that. Anyways, with the sleeve I did lose a big chunk of weight. I went from 235 to 168 which I could not have done with regular diet. But, i was always able to eat a little more than I should at every given stage and everything was easy for me. From day one I had no gas pain and water was easy to get down, then fluids and protein which were easy to keep down, I had no food intolerances and advancing through each stage. I was living my best life watching the pounds fall off but I was alway able to eat just a little more than everyone else at the same stage. Well, while the hunger hormone was gone and I was focused I was able to eat exactly what I SHOULD be eating and I measured my portions to the Amount I should be eating and I was satisfied. So lost most of the weight the dr suggested I would. i held that weight for a few months but then the hunger started creeping back and between the hunger and the extra room in the pouch I started gaining in spite of still making healthy food choices (my food was fine but my portions were too large and too frequent). Well, even though I knew I was losing control my friends and family continued to look at me as doing great..I was still on the road to getting to where I needed ti be in their eyes. I was ashamed. I was failing yet They kept complimenting me and offering me food. They were saying things like your doing so good, you can have one slice or pizza or one brownie. It won’t kill you. It’s okay that you’ve gained a couple pounds I’ve gained a couple it’s Christmas. You can lose that. Well I have since learned that no I cannot just have one of anything to do with carbs or I crave them for a week but I didn’t know that back then Anyways, was still going to my surgeon asking for help but I have bipolar disorder and the meds I take for it limit what other meds I can take so I cannot take many of the weight loss meds they had to offer. And the one I can take worked wonderfully during the day but when it wore off I ate all night Fast forward a few months and I stepped on the scale and I was back over 200. That sucked but I wasn’t giving up. went back to my surgeon asking about revision to bypass. I have heartburn gerd whatever you call it and clearly the sleeve wasn’t working so I wanted to know my options. Well let’s go back. I knew I didn’t want to have surgery if I was going to just repeat the yo-yo that had just happened so I decided I wanted two opinions this time. Well the second opinion dr had a cancellation so I seen him first. He was on board. He was going to bypass a shorter amount of bowel so i had less absorption issues and my meds Would work fine he said which seemed to be his concern even though it wasn’t really my question. I just needed my dr to say that it shouldn't be a repeat of last time and I was going forward. Well even though the bypass was an option he presented to me to start he said he wouldn’t do a bypass for me. He thought it would be a bad call with my mental health issues. This was confusing to say the least because I have one dr saying it’s fine and another dr I really respect saying it’s not and I started this thinking bypass was always an okay option in terms of mental health but worried the surgery just wouldn’t work for me. I am of course concerned about my mental health so took some time to think about it. I tried for a while to find a bariatric therapiest but none near me are taking any new patients. I even asked the surgeon and he said he would look into it but be never did. Anyways I called around for the better part of two days. They all just do the evaluations now for surgery. I have had every hormone test and lab they have that could possibly be the problem. I changed all my meds in case they were the issue. I tried everything myself and my doctors could think of but I kept gaining. When I revisited the idea of surgery I was scared. Anything that was going to upset my mental health again just isn’t an option I decided. I already know what life without my medication is like and I do not want to go back there. I continued to gain. I got back up to 245 and I am miserable. I am so depressed when I look at what I have let happen to myself. I had a chance and I blew it. I am disgusted when I look in the mirror. I decided that the weight is causing me to be more depressed so I needed to get some real answers. I went back to my surgeon. Not to ask him to do the surgery but exactly why he thought it was a bad idea. The plan was to take that info and talk to the other surgeon to make sure he had considered that and see why he wasn’t worried about it. Well, surprise…my surgeon is on board now with doing a revision for me. When I asked why he said no before he said something about a nite in my chart that said I wasn’t complaint with my meds back them and he didn’t know I have a psychiatrist and psychologist and take my meds but now he is comfortable doing surgery. So, frustrated I had to wait until I gained almost 50 more pounds to get here but excited he is willing to do it I am researching the other surgery he thinks will be a better fit for me called the SADI. At the same time I am still not buying the note in my chart thing. Cause that was never true. I guess the important takeaway for those of you here that are just starting out is even if you do regain don’t lose touch with your team and don’t give up. I feel like my dr wavering in whether he would do the surgery didn’t help but I could have asked more questions sooner and I wouldn’t have so much to lose this time. Plus, hopefully you guys can take the weight loss meds and won’t be facing a second surgery.

I talked to the nurse the other day about some vomiting issues I had been experiencing, about 5 times in total over the past 2 weeks. While the first time was almost certainly due to overcooked/dry food, there was concern over the other times, especially a few days ago when I was sick twice in a day with quite a bit of pain and multiple times of fairly aggressive vomiting. I had a longer, more complicated surgery than usual (6 hours) due to some scarring and issues with my intestine, so my doctor decided I should go back to the liquid phase until I see him on April 2. Not gonna lie, 11 days of protein shakes and yogurt is not what I was hoping for. I thought they would say just avoid the foods that were making me sick. But I guess the doctor feels my systems need more time to heal. I can have some simple creamed soups, though, and plan to supplement those with unflavored protein because I can't stand the shakes and protein waters. At least I'm having no issues with hydration.

Honestly, I would demand an explanation for why their program is so different than almost every established program out there and why the discharge papers contradict her instructions. Are you getting protein with the clear fluids? Also, I would want them to outline clearly what your food intake goals are going to be for the next several weeks. I've seen 2 Tbsp as a guideline on solid foods before for the first few months, but never limited to once a day. That's usually per meal, with 3-6 meals per day.

The day I got home from the hospital, I had two Premier Protein shakes. The next day, I had 2 protein shakes, 16oz of bone broth sipped over a very long period of time, and 2 Tbsp apple sauce. On day 3, I managed to eat 1/4 c of very thin Cream of Wheat made with high protein milk along with the 2 shakes. On day 4, I had 2 shakes and one 5oz cup of Greek yogurt. Even 4 weeks out, 1/2 cup of anything but soup in one sitting would be a challenge. But the only thing my doctor's office really cared about the first several days was fluids.

I agree it seems absolutely absurd to me. I feel very frustrated and almost alone in this (I know I’m not) but it’s just such a huge change. Some of the hospital paperwork I got at discharge said I should be eating 1/4-1/2 cup portions which I absolutely cannot get down but when I talked to her today she had said that I need to be eating 2 tablespoons a day and that’s it of the soft foods like plain Greek yogurt or applesauce or protein pudding. That’s about what I can stomach anyways but I did eat two of the protein pudding cups yesterday which were about 2.5 total for both. I just feel like I’m already failing. I am going to go back to the basics, and if I don’t go to he bathroom by tomorrow afternoon I’m going to try an enema.

I appreciate your input and you are very right. I did speak with one therapist and it’s like $300 a visit but maybe I can talk to my husband about it. At least I could go a handful of times, mayne. I edited my post to explain a lot more of my story. I’m kinda feeling like I’m on my own at this point. If I still feel this way after I meet with the dr next month I will be considering other options.

I have a therapist that I speak to refularly but no she doesn’t specialize in food. Unfortunately there are not any therapists around here that specialize in food taking on new patients. I even asked the surgeons and they only know the ones they refer you to for evaluation to be cleared for surgery (who apparently want to make the quick $300 or whatever it was and move on because they don’t accept new patients). I know that it could be a huge help for me but I hate to bring it up again knowing he won’t have an answer anyways. I don’t want him to think I’m not fit for surgery if that’s my only option. I don’t have any eating disorders. I don’t binge or anything but I do eat when I’m upset. I am not sure to what degree that is normal or can be helped but I would love to try. I just can’t find anyone and I’ve asked anyone and everyone I can think of. Basically my drs team does not hace any info on the surgery yet. I think I may be one of his first patients with this particular procedure. He is a very well know and excellent surgeon but he only offered sleeve and bypass before as far as I know. Anyways so far I have read from many different sites that you can’t have grains, probably won’t be able to tolorate dairy, can have a small amount of fat, must eat a lot of protein of course but some people can’t tolorate beans and keep carbs low so limit the amount of fruit and what I consider to be the edible vegetables. Basically that leaves me eating meat all the time, with maybe a little avacado and nothing else, I mean in terms of the options that I actually like, am I right? I mean at least with the sleeve I could eat eggs and beans and fruit and veggies I liked. I’m talking about even in maintenance I don’t think people who get SADI can have these things. Otherwise it causes the bathroom side effects. im really hoping that I’m wrong. There is such a little Amount of very confusing information about this surgery out there and I do intend to ask the dr and the dietician. In fact I called and left a message for her earlier today wanting to know what she knows about this procedure and whether I should schedule with her to learn about diet in the long term? She didn’t call back yet. Do you know that there isn’t even a cookbook for this procedure yet. At least that I could find. I’m not getting this much of my anatomy altered and facing this type of risks without knowing my long term diet is going to be.

Hi OP - I think from your post and your stats that your surgery wasn't long ago? Honestly at this point whatever veg you can eat (and tolerate) should be fine. The quantities will be tiny. And they contain loads of micronutrients. Just be sure they don't displace anything that gets you to your protein goal (v important early on!) I am over 2 years post sleeve. Another huge fan of soup here - I started it as soon as I could and added as many veggies as possible with the protein (often lentils). When I make casseroles I add loads of veggies and make sure I take plenty in my helping. I have a salad almost every day - just any suitable veg chopped up with a dressing and protein (chicken or cheese). Very soon all of these options will be open to you and it's really great that you're integrating veg into your diet so early.

I definitely agree it’s head hunger 100%. I just needed to taste something and was hoping that the coffee would also help move my bowels. I can technically only have broth, jello, protein pudding and applesauce now along with water/gatorade zero etc. my other concern right now is that I haven’t moved my bowels. I am not too concerned but I got a call from my surgeons team today and they said if I don’t go by tomorrow evening I need to come back to the hospital. This is so frustrating because I feel like I haven’t had anything in my system to make me go, and anesthesia is normally a reason for my body to stall it as well.

What else is allowed on your program? Some are more lenient than others. Mine allowed tomato or strained cream soups, for example. Although lobster bisque has got to be one of the richest soups I've ever encountered. It's so full of calories and fat, not to mention lobster is not as easy to digest as, say, flaky white fish. I honestly can't imagine eating this 4 days post-op. Greek yogurt would be a healthier option, or strained cream of chicken soup. So, the issue with coffee is caffeine, which dehydrates. If you said you were getting 64+ oz water every day, no problem, I might shrug at a little bit of coffee. Some programs allow a cup a day. But given that you're struggling to hit even a much more modest 48oz goal, I wouldn't drink something that is known to dehydrate you. Could you try decaf instead? I drink a 32 oz travel mug of decaf tea every morning and it goes down so smoothly, better than water, and counts toward my hydration goal. Ultimately, taking a bite or sip of something forbidden isn't as big an issue as why you're doing it. When I am tempted to do something not approved on my plan, I have tried to ask myself why, and get to the bottom of it, because what can quickly undo all your best efforts and intentions is not being in a healthy headspace. Is there something going on that will continue to drive you to push the limits, or lead to a slippery slope? That's something only you can know. I totally understand how boring and disgusting the options get that first week post-op. But it's really such a short time. For me, my program allowed soft proteins at one week post-op. That's really not so long to wait. Your body doesn't need much right now. If you're like me, you don't even experience hunger yet. So "needing" something different is mostly head hunger, which can get a lot more dangerous as you go along. Bending the rules now makes it a lot more likely you will bend them later, too.

Hi. I had gastric bypass Monday the 18th. I am doing well, walking a lot. Today I had a few sips of coffee and I also am having a few sips of a lobster bisque soup. Technically neither of these things are allowed but I just needed something more than broth and protein shakes. I am also having trouble getting 48+ oz a day of liquids in. I’ve been consistently getting 36-40 but after that 40 it’s so hard. i guess my question is.. am i harming myself by jumping ahead by a few days? I understand it’s best to listen to my doctor but i am just struggling to do anything and tasting something different seems to have helped HW 324 SW (before liquid diet) 324 CW 296

I’d give the smaller a meals ago @NickelChip & @PandaMom1977 I know a few who did 6 small meals versus 3 larger meals. I was able to have one snack a day a couple of months out (can’t recall exactly when now) & I still snack now to get in calories & protein. One snack is my leftover breakfast. May be try making your plan approved meal but eat it across two sessions. It may help you get over this quirky, fussy tummy stage plus until you can eat a little more in regards portion size. Oh yes the protein shakes were awful. I discovered yoghurt drinks. So much nicer. Make your own by simply blending yoghurt with as much milk as you need to make it a drinkable consistency. Add whatever flavours you like. My high protein yoghurt brand (Australian company but they don’t make them anymore - grrr) made the ones I drank & I’d get 25-35g protein depending on the size.

Hi, I had a gastric band many years ago which I had removed in December 2023. I have just had a mini gastric bypass. 4 days in and recovery is going well. No pain meds as I have not needed them since leaving hospital. Am now officially sick of all the little protein rich soups I made and froze before surgery! Am making a Thai soup broth, to jazz things up a bit.

What about Turkey Jerky? I found some snack packs at Walmart (they are actually called Turkey sausage bites) that have 10g protein for 120 calories. The pack is pretty big too. I’m not super good at macros but it’s 7g fat and 2g carbs??

I recently tried a very natural protein bar made with nuts and egg white protein that I really liked. It was the Mammoth Bar in the goji berry flavor, available on Amazon. They're pricey but very good ingredients, and I found them to be super filling. 12g protein. I'd say they're a lot like the Rx bars, which are a bit cheaper and easier to find in stores. Worth keeping on hand for hikes or when you're going to be out all day.

HI all! I volunteered for my daughters field trip tomorrow, and its hiking. I cannot make my normal meals, they will have to be snacky. So far I am thinking beef stick, cheese stick, protein shake. These might be enough for the day as long as I eat breakfast before I go. It is an all day field trip. TIA!